Doors

ABSTRACT

A DOOR ASSEMBLY HAVING, A DOOR FRAME AND A DOOR HINGED TO ONE EDGE OF THE FRAME. THE DOOR COMPRISES TWO PARTS HINGED TOGETHER FOR LIMITED RELATIVE ROTATION, AND AN ACTUATOR EFFECTIVE WITH THE DOOR IN THE CLOSED POSITION OPERATIVELY CONNECTING THE TWO PARTS SO AS TO VARY THE EFFECTIVE DEPTH OF THE DOOR. THE EDGE OF THE DOOR REMOTE FROM THE MAIN HINGE AND THE CORRESPONDING EDGE OF THE DOOR FRAME BEING PROVIDED WITH ENGAGABLE HOOK MEANS. THE RELATIVE POSITIONS OF THE HOOK MEANS BEING SUCH THAT WHEN THE TWO PARTS OF THE DOOR ARE SET FOR MAXIMUM DEPTH THE HOOK MEANS ARE DISENGAGED FROM EACH OTHER, WHILST WHEN THE TWO PARTS OF THE DOOR ARE SET TO A LESSER DEPTH THE HOOK MEANS ENGAGE EACH OTHER TO POSITIVELY LOCK THE DOOR IN A CLOSED POSITION.

.Feb. 27, 1973 R. c. GoDwm I 3,718,171

- moons Filed Sept. 30, 1971 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 lnvenlor Feb. 27, 1973 c,GODWlN 3,718,171

DOORS Filed Sept. 30, 1971 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 Inventor Qoq Chants co'aw-'- Attorneys- Feb. 27, 1973 R, c. GODMN 3,718,171

DOORS Filed Sept. 30, 1971 v 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

lnuenlor Q05 GUAM/F B 1 QUJMLM'ZM m g- Attorneys United States PatentDOORS Roy Charles Godwin, Ringwood, England, assignor to BritishAircraft Corporation Limited, London, England Filed Sept. 30, 1971, Ser.No. 185,255 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Oct. 10, 1970,

Int. Cl.Ed 15/08 US. Cl. 160-210 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Adoor assembly having, a door frame and a door hinged to one edge of theframe. The door comprises two parts hinged together for limited relativerotation, and an actuator effective with the door in the closed POSI-tion operatively connecting the two parts so as to vary the effectivedepth of the door. The edge of the door remote from the main hinge andthe corresponding edge of the door frame being provided with engageablehook means. The relative positions of the hook means being such thatwhen the two parts of the door are set for maximum depth the hook meansare disengaged from each other, whilst when the two parts of the doorare set to a lesser depth the hook means engage each other to positivelylock the door in a closed position.

This invention relates in general to doors and, more particularly, to adoor intended primarily for use in pressurised aircraft.

According to the present invention a door assembly in cluding incombination, a door frame, a door to fit the frame, first hinge meanspivotally connecting one edge of said door to one edge of said frame forpivotal movement relative thereto about a first hinge axis, said doorbeing formed of two parts, and second hinge means pivotally connectingsaid two parts for pivotal movement relative thereto about a secondhinge axis parallel to said first hinge axis, actuating means effectivewith said door in the closed position, for causing limited relativemovement of said two parts about said second hinge axis in a sense tovary the effective depth of said door, engageable hook means includingone member mounted adjacent the edge of said door remote from said firsthinge axis and one member mounted adjacent the corresponding edge ofsaid door frame, the relative positions of the said two members beingsuch that with the two door parts set for maximum depth the two membersare disengaged from each other whilst with the two door parts set to alesser depth the two members engage each other to prevent openingmovement of the door.

A preferred door assembly according to the present invention isillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in a fuselage of a pressurisedaircraft.

In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an aircraft fuselage with a door in anopen position.

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevation taken on line H-IIII of FIG. 1, andFIGS. 3 and 4 are similar sectional elevation but with the door in otherpositions.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic layout of a hydraulic sequencing system shownin the door fully open position.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an aircraft in flight showing thegeneral position of the door.

Referring to the figures generally, an aircraft fuselage 10 has arectangular door frame 11 in its lower side giving access to a freighthold 12 located under the cabin floor 13. The hold 12 itself has a floor14.

A rectangular door 15 is connected at its upper edge 'ice to the upperedge of the frame by means of a hinge 16, the axis 17 of the hinge, thefirst hinge axis, lying generally parallel to the longitudinal axis 18of the fuselage (FIG. 1). The door 15 opens upwards and outwards, theopening (and closing) movements being effected by means of a jack 19(see FIGS. 2 and 3), a crank 20 mounted on a rotatable tube 21 extendingthe full width of the door aperture, and spaced cranks 22 on each end ofthe tube each coupled to push-pull rods 23 which are in turn pivoted tothe top edge of the door.

The door 15 is formed of two parts 15a and 15b both of about the samesize, and pivoted to each other by means of a hinge 24 whose axis 25,the second hinge axis (FIG. 1) moves as the door pivots about the hinge16 but remains parallel to the axis 17.

Jacks 26 mounted adjacent the hinge 24 on both parts 15a and 15b of thedoor control the relative pivotal movement between the parts 15a and15b.

The periphery of the door 15 is provided with an inflatable seal 33which deforms on contact with the door frame 11 to give an air tightseal. The centre hinge 24 is provided with a sealing strip 34 whichdistorts slightly during operation of the jacks 26.

The free edge 27 of the door 15 is provided with hooks 28 which havetheir mouths directed along the plane of the door towards the hinges 16and 24. Rods 29 are provided on the bottom edge 30 of the frame and arepositioned to lie parallel to the hinge axes in order to be engaged bythe hooks 28 on closure of the door 15.

The two parts 15a and 15b of the door are of curved shape incross-section such that in one relative position they lie with theirexterior surfaces in continuous convex relationship with one another,and when the door is fully closed, with the fuselage contour. Thiscondition is shown in FIG. 3. The two parts 15a and 15b can berelatively pivoted one to the other about hinge 24 by means of jacks 26,extension of which moves the parts 15a and 15b from the continuousconvex relationship into a dis continuous at least partly concaverelationship indicated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4. In this latter condition,the effective depth of the door, that is, from the hinge 16 to the hooks28 is increased from that when the parts 15a and 15b are in thecontinuous convex relationship. This is due to the curvature of the door15 as a whole unit in this condition; the door 15 is, in effect, tendingto be flattened.

Thus extension of the jacks 26 when the door is fully closed disengagesthe hooks from the rods 29. This is shown in FIG. 4. Contraction of thejacks 26 when the door is closed sufiiciently for the hooks 28 toinitially engage the rods 29 causes the effective length of the door 15to be shortened and thus causes the hooks 28 to fully engage the rods29.

The jacks 26 are provided with internal locks to hold the door parts intheir continuous convex relationship and thereby to maintain the doorsecurely closed. In this condition, pressurisation loads tend to causethe door parts 15a and 15b to pivot about hinge 24 and assume a moreconvex relationship. This is prevented by the close engagement of thehooks 28 with the rods 29'.

The jacks 26 are also provided with further internal locks to hook thedoor parts 15a and 15b in their discontinuous, partly flattened,relationship when open. This enables the door 15 to swing clear of theaperture 11, as shown in FIG. 2, with less pivotal movement about hinge16 than would be necessary if the door remained in its more curvedconfiguration.

Further locking means is provided in case of failure of the internallocks of the jacks 26 or a reversal of the pressurisation loads. Thelocking means takes the form of shoot bolts 31 (FIG. 1) which areincorporated in the structure of the lower part of the door 15b. Theshoot bolts 31 are arranged such that on closure of the door 15 thebolts 31 extend from within the door to engage in sockets 32 in the doorframe, thus locking the door firmly.

As an alternative the door 15 can be similarly mounted for inwardopening. In this case the two parts 15a and 15b are required to hingerelatively to one another about the second hinge axis 25 to a greaterdegree than for outward opening so as to clear the door frame 11 and therods 29 on opening.

A sequencing system (FIG. is provided to ensure that the jacks 19 and 26operate in the appropriate order during operation of the door 15.

Assuming the door to be in its fully Open position as indicated in FIG.2 the operational sequence to close the door 15 is as follows:

Fluid pressure from a main hydraulic system line 35 is directed througha cockpit isolating valve 36 to flow to a two position selector valve 37which in this instance is turned to the close position. Fluid flows fromthe valve 37 into a supply line 38 which is connected by a supply line39 to the top of the jack 19. Fluid also flows through the supply line38 to the first of a pair of sequencing valves 40 and 41 which areconnected by a line 42 to each other in series. These valves 40 and 41delay the flow of fluid to the jacks 26 while fluid entering the top ofthe jack 19 first unlocks then extends and finally re-locks the jack 19in a position shown in FIG. 4. The door 15 has now been swung bodilydownwards about the hinge 16. Fluid is now allowed to flow from thesecond sequencing valve 41 via a supply line 43 to the jacks 26 whichfirst unlock then retract and finally re-lock in a position shown inFIG. 3. The parts 15a and 15b of the door have now been pivoted aboutthe hinge 24 to be in continuous convex relationship with each other andwith the fuselage contour. The hooks 28 are in full engagement with therods 29 to hold the door 15 firmly closed.

Fluid leaving the bottom of the jack 19, the tops of the jacks 26, andthe bottoms of the sequencing valves 40 and 41 is returned to thehydraulic system return line 44 by return lines 45, 46 and 47.

Opening of the door is achieved in an exactly opposite sequence exceptthat the sequencing valves 40 and 41 are not used since the door 15cannot move until the jacks 26 have been extended. The valve 37 isturned to open and the return lines 46 and 47 become supply lines 38,39, 42 and 43 becoming return lines.

4 I claim: 1. A door assembly including in combination, a door frame, adoor to fit said frame, first hinge means pivotally connecting one edgeof said door to one edge of said frame for pivotal movement relativethereto about a first hinge axis, said door being formed of two parts,and

second hinge means pivotally connecting said two parts for pivotalmovement relative thereto about a second hinge axis parallel to saidfirst hinge axis, actuating means efiective with said door in the closedposition, for causing limited relative movement of said two parts aboutsaid second hinge axis in a sense to vary the eifective depth of saiddoor, engageable hook means including one member mounted adjacent theedge of said door remote from said first hinge axis and one membermounted adjacent the corresponding edge of said door frame, the relativepositions of the two members being such that with the two door parts setfor maximum depth the two members are disengaged from each other whilstwith the two door parts set to a lesser depth the two members engageeach other to prevent opening movement of the door.

2. A door assembly according to claim 1 wherein said actuating meanscomprises at least one hydraulic jack operatively interconnecting saidtwo door parts.

3. A door assembly according to claim 1 wherein a hydraulic sequencingsystem is provided which includes, two sequencing valves connected inseries for delaying actuation of the hydraulic jack operativelyinterconnecting said two door parts whilst a main hydraulic door jack isoperated to close said door.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,689,766 9/1954 Blackman 49402,748,855 6/ 1956 Siems et al. 244129 D 2,748,856 6/ 1956- Tatter -2102,857,874 10/ 1958 McBride, Jr. 114-202 2,993,730 7/ 1961 Weiertz 2961463,424,41 l 1/1969 Blunschi, Sr., et al. 244-118 R 3,430,382 3/1969 Metz244-129 D PETER M. CAUN, Primary Examiner us. c1. X.R.

